I just had a mind-blowing couple of days! 🌟 I was honored to be invited to the exclusive Tech & Learning Leadership Summit in New Brunswick, NJ. This incredible invite-only event brought together only about 60 school district leaders from the Northeast region (Maine to Virginia). I got to hang out with such elite company…and loved every dang second of it! 🤩
The summit kicked off Thurs. night with an awesome reception & networking dinner (cocktails included 🍹). Then on Fri. we dove into full day of learning at Rutgers University. The agenda was packed with timely topics like AI, meaningful conversations with fellow leaders, idea-sharing sessions, & meetings with some very cool vendors.
It was surreal to be in the same room with leaders I've admired for years, as well as meeting new visionaries who are reshaping education. We shared successes, struggles, and innovative ideas from our districts. The connections I made are truly priceless!
Now, here's the most amazing part: At the end of the day, during an awards ceremony, I was one of just 6 people called to the front of the room...I received Tech & Learning's Innovative Leader Award for Best Example of Professional Development! 🤯
What made this recognition eve more special were the incredible conversations I had throughout the summit about my PD initiatives! People came up to me & said they’d been following my work on social media & have enjoyed seeing the innovative ideas I've implemented. The biggest compliments & follow-up chats were about how I helped lead my district through our recent mega-switchover from Microsoft to Google - admins, edtech leaders & even IT folks were fascinated by this. They also wanted to hear more about my "Learning In The Loo" with edtech tip flyers in faculty restrrooms (lots of 🤣 from the people who hadn’t heard of it yet), my "Edtech on Deck" idea that I recently blogged about - with themed stations in faculty lunchrooms where I have treats & edtech chats, and my "Edtech Tips, Tricks, Tools, and Tidbits" email newsletters that staff actually request! There was particularly high interest in my newest crazy brainchild:
#BreweryPD, an optional off-campus PD at a local brewery, pairing beer names with QR codes linkes to fun edtech tips! It was super humbling & exciting to have other leaders genuinelyy interested in learning from my ideas!
I'm beyond proud & so thankful to be recognized for innovative edtech leadership!!! It's moments like these that remind me why I pour my 💖 into this work. Here's to pushing boundaries and shaking things up in education!
#TLTechLive #EdLeadership #edtech